ABAP SQL in ABAP Release 7.54 - ABAP Keyword Documentation

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ABAP SQL in ABAP Release 7.54

1. Extensions of the INTO Clause

2. Definition of Associations

3. New Aggregate Function STRING_AGG

4. Addition DISTINCT Optional in Aggregate Function COUNT

5. Window Expressions

6. Temporal SQL Hierarchies

7. Hierarchy Navigators

8. Aggregate Expressions in SQL Expressions

9. Extension of the CAST Matrix

10. Client Handling

11. Syntax Check for Literals and Host Constants

12. SQL Conditions

13. New Window Functions

14. New Built-In Functions

15. Strict Mode in the Syntax Check

Modification 1

Extensions of the INTO Clause

The INTO clause has been extended as follows:

The new addition NEW can be used to implicitly create anonymous data objects as target areas. The addition NEW now also makes inline declarations possible when using dynamic tokens and after the statement FETCH.
The new addition INDICATORS can be used to specify a null indicator.

Modification 2

Definition of Associations

When associations of a common table expression are published using the addition WITH ASSOCIATIONS, new CTE associations can be defined by specifying JOIN TO ONE|MANY. These CTE associations can be used in the subsequent queries of the current WITH statement, either in path expressions or as hierarchy associations in the hierarchy generator HIERARCHY.

Definitions of associations require strict mode from ABAP release 7.54.

Modification 3

New Aggregate Function STRING_AGG

The new aggregate function STRING_AGG can be used to chain character-like results of the rows of the results set of a query or of the current group as a string.

Modification 4

Addition DISTINCT Optional in Aggregate Function COUNT

The aggregate function COUNT( sql_exp ) can now be used without the addition DISTINCT. In this case, it counts all rows in which the value of the argument is not the null value.

Modification 5

Window Expressions

Window expressions defined using OVER can now be used in the SELECT list of a query. Window expressions define windows as a subset of the results set and apply window functions to them.

Modification 6

Temporal SQL Hierarchies

The hierarchy generator HIERARCHY can now use the new addition PERIOD FROM TO VALID FROM TO to create temporal hierarchies in which the hierarchy nodes are limited by time intervals.

Modification 7

Hierarchy Navigators

The new hierarchy navigator HIERARCHY_DESCENDANTS_AGGREGATE can be used to calculate aggregate functions for descendant nodes.

Modification 8

Aggregate Expressions in SQL Expressions

From ABAP release 7.54, aggregate expressions can be specified as operands of SQL expressions.

Modification 9

Extension of the CAST Matrix

The matrix of types that can be converted to each other with a CAST expression has been expanded. In particular, the new data types of the ABAP Dictionary are taken into account.

Modification 10

Client Handling

The new additions

USING [ALL] CLIENTS [IN] in queries
USING [ALL] CLIENTS [IN] in write statements

make it possible to switch implicit client handling from the current default client to multiple clients.

This makes the addition CLIENT SPECIFIED obsolete in queries and obsolete in the write statements UPDATE SET and DELETE FROM.

Modification 11

Syntax Check for Literals and Host Constants

The fact that conversions of host variables in read positions need to be lossless is checked for untyped literals and host constants in the strict syntax check modes from ABAP release 7.50 and ABAP release 7.51 and hence can produce syntax errors. From ABAP release 7.54, a syntax check warning is produced when this rule is broken outside of the strict mode too.

Modification 12

SQL Conditions

The SQL conditions were revised as follows:

Unlike in all other relational expressions in ABAP SQL, the relational expression IS [NOT] NULL can now be used to check LOBs and geodata types.
A new variant of the operator IN can be used to compare multiple operands with a list of value tuples.

Modification 13

New Window Functions

ABAP SQL now supports the following new window functions in window expressions:

LEAD and LAG.

Modification 14

New Built-In Functions

ABAP SQL Now supports the following new built-in functions:

UUID

Modification 15

Strict Mode in the Syntax Check

If one the new features listed above is used in an ABAP SQL statement, the syntax check is performed in a strict mode, which handles the statement more strictly than the regular syntax check.